Anyone aged 18 or over who intentionally communicates with a child under 16, acting for a sexual purpose and where the communication is sexual or intended to elicit a sexual response can be sent to jail for a maximum of two years, and will automatically be placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

The offence applies to online and offline communication, including social media, e-mail, texts, letters, and other forms of communication.

The law was created after the NSPCC campaigned for better protections for children online. During the Lords Report stage of the Serious Crime Bill Lord Harris of Haringey then tabled an amendment proposing a new criminal offence in this area.

Laws previously in place do already address this kind of behaviour, however they are unlikely to apply if the communication does not ask the child to engage in sexual activity, and many do not require automatic sex offender registration.

This is NOT an internet specific offence. It will apply equally to offline and online communications, including oral communication and written notes.

The new law will only apply where the defendant can be shown to have acted for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification. This distinction has been created to ensure that ordinary discussions such as family chats on safe sex guidance or discussions in an educational context, will not be caught by the offence.

How this behaviour will be detected, remains. With many online messaging platforms using encryption and the existing difficulties surrounding children reporting this kind of communication and adults identifying it, prosecution in this area will be difficult, but the new law will at least send out the message that grooming is not acceptable and perpetrators are being targeted in a much more focused way.